Film and television have led us to believe that most espionage takes
place in darkness. Men meet in dark alleys, secluded nightspots or private
locations. One thing that the great Susanne Bier gets about modern espionage is
that it often comes accompanied by opulence. Much of her brilliant adaptation
of “The Night Manager,” starting tonight at 10/9c on AMC and running for the next five
weeks, takes place in the blinding sun. Rich men sit on verandas, making deals
that cause death around the world. It is only one aspect of Bier’s adaptation
of John le Carré’s 1993 novel that feels fresh and engaging. Nearly everything
about “The Night Manager” works, from the high-powered cast to the gorgeous
locales. And it’s thematically dense as well, as le Carré and Bier examine the
games people play with each other to get what they need, and how far we’re
willing to go to deceive for the greater good.

Jonathan Pine (the incredible Tom Hiddleston) is the man who
gets the wealthy what they need. He is the night manager of a very wealthy
hotel in Cairo, the guy who can literally acquire anything for his clientele.
When one of his guests basically reaches out to him for protection, he
nervously acquiesces, taking a document from her, regarding an arms deal about
to go down, to make a copy for her. The peek into the world of high-powered weapons
trading teaches him of the existence of one of its power players, Richard Roper
(Hugh Laurie). After things in Cairo go sideways during the Arab Spring, Pine
finds himself in a unique position, enlisted by Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) to
go undercover in Roper’s inner circle, where he meets Roper’s girlfriend Jed
(Elizabeth Debicki) and his right-hand man Corkoran (Tom Hollander). Pine gets
a whole new identity, losing himself in Roper’s world of glamour, but never
forgetting the human cost of what this all means. He draws closer to Jed and
raises the suspicions of Corkoran. It’s all wonderfully le Carré.

Le Carré and the mini-series format are ideal companions in
that his narratives often demand more than the feature film running time allows
(this was nearly adapted several times in the 20 years since its publication
but no screenwriter could compress it to a movie length). It’s not just because
of the density of the plot either, but more for the tone that the length of “The
Night Manager” allows. We don’t even really see Roper for most of the first
episode, turning him into a Jaws-esque legend before Laurie even has the chance to
inject this performance with the perfect balance of wit and pure evil. He’s
fantastic. We get notable character development for roles like Corkoran and
Jed, who would have been mere plot devices if the narrative had to be
compressed. Debicki and Hollander are both excellent.

Having said all of that, “The Night Manager” belongs to
Hiddleston, someone who is equally convincing as the face of a glamorous
lifestyle in Cairo and a veteran soldier hell-bent on vengeance. In fact, the
pulse of “The Night Manager” comes from that transition, as we watch a man who
has put his dark past behind him slowly bring it back to meet his present day
needs. Hiddleston is so convincing that one could easily see him playing 007
next, although I’ve long been convinced that he can do just about anything he
sets his mind to. He’s that good.

There’s also something to be said for a project like “The
Night Manager” being directed by one filmmaker for every episode, the talented woman behind “Brothers”
and the Golden Globe-winning “In a Better World.” Bier brings a cinematic
language to “The Night Manager,” and a deeper understanding of character than
we often get in projects that hinge on espionage. She understands that it’s not
about the twists and turns of the spy game but the impact it has on those who
are playing it.

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